Warning Bells

Aaliyah's legs shook with every step. Her eyes were also lowered but still searching for rescue, hoping she would wake up from this bad dream. The crazy thing was that she had every chance to run.

Finally, she stopped in front of the man without looking up. What she felt was like nothing that had ever hit her before.

The man emitted a powerful Aura, his presence utterly dominating. It was so strong that Aaliyah thought she ought to have fallen to her knees by now and given up in surrender like he was some kind of God. But, he wasn't.

He was...a man.

And apparently, the man she was getting married to.

Marriage. Was she... really getting married? Out of the blue.

Instead of wedding bells, warning bells rang in her head, and she felt like she was being suffocated by the lack of air streaming into her lungs. It didn't take long for her to realize she had held her breath for so long, probably from the moment she saw the man standing across her.

The warmth of the concrete stung her foot, the pain becoming more and more unbearable the longer she stood there.

"We are all gathered here today...," Pastor Ramus began.

Aaliyah flinched like she had been burnt. It wasn't that his voice had scared her, but the natural cringe that came with it whenever he was close. She locked eyes with Ramus, and she could see a reflection of the fear in her eyes in his.

Her throat grew a lump in it, and she quickly looked away before she grew angry.

Looking away caused her to lock eyes with the person in front of her. He was putting on a long black coat that covered him from head to toe, and was so tall she almost took a step back from his looming figure.

The Darkest shade of Black hair she's ever seen fell in heavy strands over his face, blocking his facial features from her sight.

His hair was so long they were almost touching his chest.

As if the level of creepiness wasn't enough, Aaliyah could see two other men standing a few steps behind him with their faces hidden by the darkness.

"We are gathered here today to witness this... blissful wedding of Aaliyah Manchester, and this gentleman,"

Aaliyah was so close to screaming.

"Both of you have promised to be there for each other, through everything that will come,"

Aaliyah could not believe her ears.

"By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and Wife. You May do as you wish with your bride,"

This wasn't a wedding. It was a sacrifice. And she was the sacrificial object.

Just as Pastor Ramus finished saying that, it was like everyone knew what to do. They all started to leave, the Nuns were scurrying back into the church along with the pastor, while the strange tall man and his guest strode out of the place like nothing had just happened.

Aaliyah was breathing hard, her mind running all over the place. There was so much fear in her eyes. She's had nightmares before, but it's never been this bad. When was she going to wake up?

"Wait!" She yelled after him.

Her husband stopped in his tracks, and so did the other two. The breeze then came by, dancing with his hair and coat.

Almost immediately, he began walking away again.

Aaliyah gritted her teeth, took a firm hold of her dress to avoid her tripping, and broke into a run to catch up to him. Even though the fear kept increasing, even though the closer she got to him the harder it became to breathe, even though her legs were trembling and her foot stung badly with every step, she caught up to him before he walked out of the gates and blocked his path.

Running with such a heavy dress was draining. But what was even more heavy was her heart, "What is the meaning of this? Are you just going to leave?!" She spat out, glaring at him.

Silence ensured for about two seconds.

"Do I know you?"

Aaliyah had to stand strong if not the depth of his voice would have knocked her down. It was so deep, it was almost enchanting and she did not like the way her body reacted to it.

"I should be asking you that!" She breathed, shaking her head in disdain, "I just got married to a total stranger. Who are you? Why did you marry me?"

"You're so annoying," She heard him murmur, right before he slid past her and continued away.

Aaliyah didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"You're the one who's annoying with your stupid...face!" She whirled around and yelled only to see the three men getting into three different cars parked outside and driving away.

She kept breathing heavily as she watched their cats disappear into the darkness. Her head was pounding, and her lips felt dry. A horrid laughter escaped her lips as she turned back to face the church. There were a few nuns and Pastor Ramus standing just outside the door, with many others peeking out.

"If you hated me that much, why not put a pillow over my face and choke me to death?" She asked, feeling nothing at the moment.

"You will not live here any longer." Pastor Ramus yelled back at her small figure. The fear that had been in his eyes was disappearing, and the proud look he'd always shown to everyone who knew him well was coming back, "Aaliyah, You belong to the Gentleman, now."

"I belong to no one!" She fired back, "And I am not going anywhere!"

.

.

.

Aaliyah should have known mere words would not change a thing. Just as they had threatened, the church had locked her out for two days before finally throwing her out of the compound entirely.

She was left to wander about the streets with her dirty dress, and her aching feet. It didn't help that the night was always cold and she had been a shivering mess for days.

She had no idea where to go and had been forcing herself not to break down in the middle of the street and cry.

No one knew her around here. Even if she told them she was from the church, they would not believe her because everyone in town trusted Pastor Ramus with the idea that he was a good man. She's always been isolated inside her room, and only allowed to come out along with the other kids when the place was empty.

People have been staring awkwardly at her as she walked by. She didn't know where she was headed, all she knew was that this was the direction those cars had driven down through three nights ago.

And no matter what, she was gonna him.

That Strange husband of hers.

He would take responsibility!

Time passed, and Aaliyah had now spent two weeks roaming around the streets. At some point, she had roared in anger and torn off many layers of the dress from her body, now giving her more space to move faster. Her hair was dirty and was disheveled.

A strange thing kept happening though. Whenever she fell asleep and woke up, she would find food lying next to her. She's always felt like someone out there was watching her, and from the constant supply of food to keep her from starving no matter how far she traveled, she confirmed there was someone following her.

And then, it happened. Maybe her hard work had finally paid off as she woke up one faithful morning to find another supply of food and a small note sitting next to her.

' Your destination is the small mansion a little out of town '

Aaliyah stood up and looked around her, but there was nobody there. From the looks of the things, she knew she was almost out of town.

Once she was done eating, Aaliyah wiped her mouth with the back of her palm and started moving again. She had made up her mind to find that mansion and whatever awaited her there.

As expected, she was out of town in less than an hour and found herself surrounded by a deserted area. She kept on walking while looking around, and it took another hour before she sighted what resembled a building from a distance.

The anxiety kicked in once again, but she wasn't backing down after two weeks of wandering and aimless searching. She dragged her feet to the mansion and stepped into the gates that were not locked.

There was a car parked by the side of the compound, and a water fountain sitting in the middle that was dried and covered with dust. In fact, everything from the gate to the floor to the car itself was covered in dust.

It almost looked as if no one lived here.

But the car...was Familiar. A Black BMW. The same one she had watched him climb into and drive away.

Aaliyah took in a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for what was to come, unlike Last time she was caught by surprise.

Another good look at the eerie mansion that stood in front of her, and she walked up to the front door and knocked before she started thinking twice.

After a few minutes of total silence, she knocked again.

The third time, with her fist suspended in the air she was about to knock and she heard a click of the door unlocked from the inside. She stiffened for a second, waiting for someone to open the door and step out, but another minute passed...

Taking another deep breath, she slowly pushed the door open and her head poked into the house.

"I'm here to live here!" She announced without a care, "And I will not be kicked out!"

The man stared back with emotionless eyes, "Alright."